An appeal to leaders of Guilford, Greensboro : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis

Recent actions by the Greensboro City Council and Guilford County Board of Commissioners endanger the valuable balance of power and division of duties that are fundamental to the council-manager form of government under which the city and county operate.

Council-manager communities expect public interest to guide most decisions and for elected officials to work together, providing clear direction for the manager to carry out their policies. The professional manager and his or her staff are charged with implementation and administration of these policies.

However civic-minded and conscientious as they are with their constituents, elected officials are most effective when they respect this division of responsibility and give their professional staff the authority to manage day-to-day operations. This provides local government with the skills and institutional memory to transcend the turnover that occurs with election cycles.

The council-manager government is ineffective when:

* Elected officials begin to focus on matters of implementation and administration, instead of policy. This behavior easily leads to micromanagement of paid staff.

* Managers do not receive clear goals and objectives. When elected bodies are fragmented and focus on their own narrow agendas, managers receive mixed signals and differing expectations and are not evaluated objectively.

* After a new election, managers and elected officials do not give each other a chance to prove themselves. The view of government is very different from the outside than from the inside.

In high-performing local governments, elected officials have a strong partnership with professional staff and are clear on priorities, performance and process. UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government faculty member Carl Stenberg describes a high-performing governing body as "asking thoughtful questions of one another and the professional staff, listening carefully to the views expressed by citizens, treating everyone with courtesy and respect, and making decisions after assessing options and alternatives."

Now, more than ever, we should expect elected officials to respect the manager's role as chief executive officer. If the city manager's recent dismissal was intended to give Greensboro a "fresh start," then we expect the City Council to adhere to the basic tenets of the local council-manager system of government that respect the balance of responsibility and emphasis on partnerships. The same rules should apply to Guilford County when the commissioners select and begin work with their future manager.

We ask that residents of Greensboro and Guilford County inform themselves about effective government practices and hold our elected officials to high standards of behavior.

Susan Schwartz is president, Action Greensboro; Chuck Cornelio is president, Greensboro Economic Development Alliance; and Chuck Burns is president, Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.

hpulliamjr@triad.rr.com

March 22, 2009 - 10:08 am EDT

In my opinion,most county and municipal managers,have a self interest in spending more tax dollars,and employing more people.
This is a necessity of their trade, in their elevating themselves to a larger position,bigger paycheck, in probably another community.
The larger the budget,and the larger the work force,they command,the better they position themselves for a bigger paycheck.
Watch the antics of superintendants of public schools,they do their carnage and move on to assist a new school board in a larger system,who are often gutless,and continue their carnage,since it is a very profitable tool of their trade.
Somebody,has to curtail the appetites of the county/town managers,and their boss is the commissioners,whose boss is the taxpayers,where the (buck starts and stops),who often are the prey of the of power hungry managers,who often love forced annexation and enjoy the support of the NCLM( North Carolina League Of Municipalities),the same who count many of them as active members,and enemies of the people,as they have demonstrated in Raleigh,repeatedly.
So,it is time to get out the tuning-fork,or a pitchfork,pitch them out,in November,and bring into tune,those who are out of tune with the taxpayers.
The people who pay the taxes,have long been ignored,and it is pay back time,(pitch fork) "pitch their asses out time" in November,no one should be exempted who has violated our rights,includes all politicians even your ward/district,or at large representative.
This letter may might be defined as rude,or crude,I am concluding that when my liberties,and the liberties of my children,are in danger,this is not the tme to " reason with rattle snakes".

zeus80

March 22, 2009 - 2:18 pm EDT

City Councilmembers Barber, Rakestraw, Wade and Sandra Anderson Groat, Zack Matheny should read, re-read, and memorize the contents of the Schwartz, Cornelio, and Burns article (3/22) before filing for re-election to the City Council! But it is probably too late for them to save their Council seats because of their poor leadership styles, and especially their votes to dismiss former, competent City Manager Mitchell Johnson!

wstutts

March 22, 2009 - 7:21 pm EDT

How can any reasonable person think that Mitchell Johnson or the Greensboro City Council has done a a good job? We have lost the City Attorney and several assistants, the Police Chief and just about all of his assistants, the Fire Chief, the Recreation Director, the DOT Chief, the City Engineer, now theCity Manager and several assistants. Half the damn Police Department is suing us. In the Recreation Department both black and white employees are suing for discrimination. Police Officers investigated for sexual assualts. Assualt on females at the Police Club. Where have Ms. Schwartz, Mr Cornelio, and Mr Burs been? Do they live on Mars?

To state that " Managers do not recieve clear goals and objectives " is laughable. How much clearer could Mitch Johnsons job have been?

How many jobs have Ms Schwartz, Mr Cornelio, or Mr Burns brought to Greensboro? . They are as big a failure as Mitch and his gang. We need jobs. The key to bringing the jobs is the WATER in Randleman Dam. After thirty years you would wonder when if ever we'll have that water. What are they doing about this? They congratulate each other how great things are, yet I believe they are all part of the problem. This town is eroding daily and our leaders are blind. They hide behind their damn POLITICAL CORRECTNESS. Until our leaders realize this and have the courage to stand up to pacs and political agendas, nothing much will change,

bubba

March 23, 2009 - 10:24 am EDT

"How can any reasonable person think that Mitchell Johnson or the Greensboro City Council has done a a good job?"

Exactly.

Most of this predictable pushback is NOT reasonable, nor is it done to serve the best interests of our citizens.

If nothing else, we have learned that particular truth the hard way these last few years.

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